If you've been to any triathlon, duathlon, running race, spinning class or masters group swim in Kansas City, you can't escape the term "VO2 max".
What is it? I answered that with THIS article.
How do you test for it? I answered that HERE.
That's all good, but what's a test really like? Lucky for the readers of the Kansas City Endurance Sports Examiner, I found out a couple of weeks ago.
If you are lucky enough to get in for a test either because you have the money to pay for it (could run you around $300) or you find a study advertising a free test from your local running group, then you'll get some valuable data about your aerobic capacity that will tell you where you are at, and where you could go.
I knew it was a dastardly as everyone fears when during setup, the doctor and student said, "here's a towel that we can use to wipe up the drool. You'll need it." What?
Now that's my kind of torture! You will sweat. You will drool. You will not get as far as you think you can. You will lose chest hair if you are a guy not shaving your chest. Maybe some women, too, but that's a different topic for another day.
It all starts with reading the test outline, going over medical history and signing the consent form. I think I heard the phrase; "you can stop the test at any time" uttered 20 times throughout the experience. Very comforting.
Check your modesty at the door since they will attach probes for a continuous EKG test for the test. They need heart rate data and they want to make sure your cardiac system can handle the strain without causing a major medical problem. Not only will you get valuable aerobic data, but you will find out if you have a bad ticker. To attach probes, they need a clean and hair free surface. Enter the razor and alcohol pads to scrub some skin off. In reality it wasn't that bad, but I recommend shaving the day of if having someone else shave it for you. By the way, they ONLY shave the areas they want to attach to. You might have a nice smiley face chest hair design if you don't plan right.
The headgear reminds me of a medieval torture device or a head set for braces. You have the resting pad on your forehead and around the top of your head, like a hat. The major difference is they clamp that sucker on like you're launching into space breaking the earth's gravity. They stop when you mutter, "ow that hurts". Then and only then is it tight enough. To that, they attach the hose that runs to the equipment that measures your intake, output and CO2 levels. They want to measure every bit of air you breathe in and out. In order to accomplish that you get a mouth piece that fits over your teeth and gums and a nose clip. This is where drool, lack of swallowing and breathing come into play. You have to adapt to breathing through the hose and not really being able to swallow. That leads to drool when you are sucking wind on level 4 of the test. Be prepared to drool, not swallow and deal with severe dry mouth.
So now you have the headgear and an uncomfortable breathing setup. Now it's time to get on a treadmill set at an incline to start with. Somewhat menacing, there is a huge red "STOP" button on a treadmill arm, so you don't miss it. It can be a little overwhelming, but in reality it's all under your control. You can go as far as you want and if you aren't comfortable, you can call the whole thing off. But hey, you're there in the headgear and drooling on yourself, you might as well finish the job.
The first level is pretty easy. 10% grade at 1.7 mph running on a treadmill using the Bruce Protocol (percent incline and speed increase every 3 minutes). Each level gets an incline increase and a speed increase. Level 2 is still walking and at level 3, they try to get you to speed walk and not start running. My inclination was to jog, but I heeded the advice and strided it out. Level 4 started pushing it, but level 5 is the level. What's wrong with level 4? "The next level is the level" (Bonus points if you can name that movie quote). Level 5 was hell. You want to quit so bad and it's not really your lungs that give out. Maybe it is for some, but from a lot of folks I spoke with, the legs fill up with lactic acid and they just can't keep turning over. If you reached level 6, props to you.
At that point, I was toast. I was sweating and drooling and done. Luckily the testing provided good data for the study when my VCO2 / VO2 is constantly at 1.0 or above and I reached that and then some. My legs were jell-o and after 13:42 of test time, I felt like I had been worked over for 3 or 4 hours. It burned 210 calories, so there's a bonus.
A little background on the study. The University of Kansas Medical Center REACH lab was looking at 2 exercise tests. They use a metabolic cart to determine gas exchange (VO2 max), EKG to monitor heart rate and rhythm. From this test, they were looking for fitness level via VO2 max (aerobic capacity) and HR.
The second tests are submaximal effort and once you reach 85% of age-predicted HR max, they stop the test. They are using a recumbent stepper called Nu-Step for the submax test. Currently, there aren't any submax tests for this exercise device and many older adults and those with disease/disability use the NuStep. This will allow them to look at whether the test they designed is any good comparing to healthy adults. The second test is conducted within 24 hours to 5 days after the max treadmill test.
From that hour of my time, I received my score and some helpful information about heart rates for me personally and where to train for aerobic and anaerobic work. I will be looking into what the results really mean and what I can do to improve them. And, to an extent, if trying to change my VO2 scores will even be worth the effort to gain 1 to 2 points for hours of training.
Stay tuned.
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